Elyria, OH Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Chapter 733 of the Elyria Codified Ordinances is the City's license for buying and selling scrap. Section 733.01 defines junk as old or scrap copper, brass, rope, rags, trash, waste, batteries, paper, rubber, iron, steel and other old or scrap ferrous or nonferrous materials. A junk yard is an establishment or place of business maintained or operated for storing, keeping, buying or selling junk. The definition also takes in garbage dumps and sanitary landfills and, near interstate or primary highways, scrap metal processing facilities within 1,000 feet of the nearest edge of the right of way.

Under § 733.03 no person can operate and maintain a junk yard within the City without a license from the Mayor, and no license issues unless the yard complies with the chapter. A yard not screened by natural objects must erect the required fence or make suitable plantings. Section 733.01 defines the fence as a barrier at least six feet in height, built of nontransparent material and kept so as to obscure the junk from ordinary view. Section 733.05 requires it to be neatly constructed and kept in good order, and the only advertisement allowed on it is the licensee's name and the nature of the business. The Building Inspector enforces the fence rules.

The application goes to the Mayor in writing with the fee, signed and sworn, and lists the applicant's name and address and the junk yard location, plus officer, member or director details for firms and corporations (§ 733.04). Before a license is granted or renewed, the Chief of Police inspects the yard and reports to the City Law Director, and the Chief then inspects every licensed yard twice a year (§ 733.06). After a certified-mail notice the owner has sixty days to fix the problems. The Mayor can revoke a license after reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard (§ 733.03(d)).

Motor vehicle salvage dealers sit in a separate chapter, Chapter 736.